The men’s singles final at the Austrian Championships (1894-1930)

The Austrian Championships were first held in 1894, when the main events were a men’s singles and a men’s doubles. The tournament was usually held in late May/early June, on clay courts. Up until 1914, it was held in Prague in Bohemia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War One, during which time the tournament was not held, the Austrian Championships were held in Vienna.

For a good number of years during the tournament’s early history, up until 1905, a Challenge Round was in force in the men’s singles event. This meant that the previous year’s holder did not have to play through, but could sit out and wait to see who won what was known as the All-Comers’ event.

The main sources for the following results are “Sport und Spiel”, “Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport”, “Lawn Tennis and Croquet” and “Lawn Tennis and Badminton”.
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The Austrian Championships were first held in 1894, when the main events were a men’s singles and a men’s doubles. The tournament was usually held in late May/early June, on clay courts. Up until 1914, it was held in Prague in Bohemia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War One, during which time the tournament was not held, the Austrian Championships were held in Vienna.

For a good number of years during the tournament’s early history a Challenge Round was in force in the men’s singles event. This meant that the previous year’s holder did not have to play through, but could sit out and wait to see who won what was known as the All-Comers’ event.

It is quite difficult to obtain results from the men’s singles final at the Austrian Championships for the years 1921-30, so only the winner’s name is provided for those years.

The main sources for the following results are “Sport und Spiel”, “Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport”, “Lawn Tennis and Croquet” and “Lawn Tennis and Badminton”.

thanks for another interesting contribution
according to my sources the winners from 94 and 98, Gandon and André
were from GBR
the winner from 1926 was indeed Jan Kozeluh, as B1 assumed, don´t know about 1925
the winner from 1927 was R George from France
and the losing finalist from 1930 against Tilden was Daniel Prenn

I have the following results from the 1920s (including the women's finals as well). I collected most of these results from contemporary Hungarian newspapers. Also, the Austrian National Library has many sports magazines scanned, some of these results may have come from them.

seems elegos7 is correct about the losing finalist Matejka in 1930. He beat Prenn in the semis and went on to lose against Tilden.
that is according to an austrian newspaper report from May 12th, 1930.
my original info came from an austrian yearbook from 1977, and they got it wrong it seems

Many thanks to BobbyOne, treblings and Karoly for the additional information/corrections provided. I've changed my original post accordingly.

The winner of the women's singles event in 1925 was Erna Redlich; the runner-up at the same event in 1928 was Hilde Eisenmenger.

Mark

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according to the ´Wiener Sporttagblatt´from May 21st 1928 the runner-up in the womens tournament was in fact Emmy Hagenauer, beaten by Rost 36 64 63. the result against Hilde Eisenmenger that elegos7 mentions was the semifinal that year.
using the same source, it seems that Cochet beat Matejka in 1928 with the result of 63 75 63 and in 1929 it was 64 62 46 64.

according to the ´Wiener Sporttagblatt´from May 21st 1928 the runner-up in the womens tournament was in fact Emmy Hagenauer, beaten by Rost 36 64 63. the result against Hilde Eisenmenger that elegos7 mentions was the semifinal that year.
using the same source, it seems that Cochet beat Matejka in 1928 with the result of 63 75 63 and in 1929 it was 64 62 46 64.

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Thanks, I've noted the correct women's final result. I didn't have time to look at the men's singles results in the Sport-Tagblatt.
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Would you by any chance know the results from the two main finals at the 1926 edition of the same tournament?

Thanks. I forgot to say that I'm also missing the result from the women's singles final at the Austrian Championships in 1922 and 1924.

Mark
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i´ve found some results and will post them as soon as i´m through checking all the years.
i have a question. i found a newspaper article about 1924, that mentioned a R D Good as winner of the international austrian championships. have you heard that name before and is it maybe an alias for de morpurgo?

i´ve found some results and will post them as soon as i´m through checking all the years.
i have a question. i found a newspaper article about 1924, that mentioned a R D Good as winner of the international austrian championships. have you heard that name before and is it maybe an alias for de morpurgo?

i´ve found some results and will post them as soon as i´m through checking all the years.
i have a question. i found a newspaper article about 1924, that mentioned a R D Good as winner of the international austrian championships. have you heard that name before and is it maybe an alias for de morpurgo?

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Hello,

Well, from the available information, it seems very likely that Umberto de Morpurgo won the men's singles title at the International Austrian Championships in 1924. Although some players sometimes used to use pseudonyms, I don't recall any cases where Umberto de Morpurgo did so, which is not to say that he never did.

However, the practice of using pseudonyms was, fortunately, dying out by the beginning of the 1920s. This makes it easier for people who are interested in tennis history to dig up information on past players.

Well, from the available information, it seems very likely that Umberto de Morpurgo won the men's singles title at the International Austrian Championships in 1924. Although some players sometimes used to use pseudonyms, I don't recall any cases where Umberto de Morpurgo did so, which is not to say that he never did.

However, the practice of using pseudonyms was, fortunately, dying out by the beginning of the 1920s. This makes it easier for people who are interested in tennis history to dig up information on past players.

Mark
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maybe i can get some additional information about this.
in the meantime i have the Berlin winners from 1929, which are
Cochet-Menzel 9:11 6:3 6:1 6:1, and in the ladies singles Reznicek-Aussem 7:5 6:3
the finals were played on the 20th May, 1929

can you tell me something about european tournaments of that era?
were they always played in a particular sequence? i assume that Berlin ws played before the French, for example?

^^^^ Thanks for the information on the 1929 Championships of Berlin tournament. It's very difficult to find the details of German/Austrian/Swiss tournaments in the early 1920s because those countries' players were barred from most international competitions from circa 1919-27 because of World War One.
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As for European tournaments in general, during that era most tournaments were usually held at the same time in the same place each year. A schedule of, say, British or German tournaments would be published at the beginning of the season, or even earlier, and kept to throughout the year.

This hadn't necessarily been the practice at the dawn of lawn tennis, but as the number of tournaments grew and grew, it was realised that a more or less fixed schedule would make a great deal of sense from an organisational point of view in particular.

^^^^ Thanks for the information on the 1929 Championships of Berlin tournament. It's very difficult to find the details of German/Austrian/Swiss tournaments in the early 1920s because those countries' players were barred from most international competitions from circa 1919-27 because of World War One.
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As for European tournaments in general, during that era most tournaments were usually held at the same time in the same place each year. A schedule of, say, British or German tournaments would be published at the beginning of the season, or even earlier, and kept to throughout the year.

This hadn't necessarily been the practice at the dawn of lawn tennis, but as the number of tournaments grew and grew, it was realised that a more or less fixed schedule would make a great deal of sense from an organisational point of view in particular.

Mark
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i can see how that would be problematic.

do you know whether the Berlin tournament was played before or after the Austrian International and French?
it would make searching for results a lot easier

The Champs of Berlin tournament was often referred to as the Pfingsten tournament, so it was usually held around Whitsun/Pentecost, i.e. between late May and early June, or a little earlier or later.

Mark
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i´ve been looking into historic dates of Pentecost in the 20´s to find the correct date for the tournament. problem is, on two occasions that led me to the french championships, so i was just trying to figure out whether Berlin was before or after.
no worry, i´m kinda addicted right now to reading old newspapers in search of old tennis results.

^^^^ Thanks for the information on the 1929 Championships of Berlin tournament. It's very difficult to find the details of German/Austrian/Swiss tournaments in the early 1920s because those countries' players were barred from most international competitions from circa 1919-27 because of World War One.
--

As for European tournaments in general, during that era most tournaments were usually held at the same time in the same place each year. A schedule of, say, British or German tournaments would be published at the beginning of the season, or even earlier, and kept to throughout the year.

This hadn't necessarily been the practice at the dawn of lawn tennis, but as the number of tournaments grew and grew, it was realised that a more or less fixed schedule would make a great deal of sense from an organisational point of view in particular.

Mark
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Mark, Just a little remark: Switzerland cannot have been barred because it was not involved in WW1...

Apparently an Austrian Championships tournament did take place in Vienna in 1920, from circa 28 June-4 July. I could find only the following details of the two singles finals:

MFI: Count Ludwig von Salm d. Rolf Kinzel [score?]
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WFI: Frau Ellissen* d. Frau Weinlinger [score?]

* There were two tennis-playing Ellissen sisters from Austria, Lilly and Margit.
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Maybe this tournament was open only to Austrian players, or maybe very few, if any, overseas players took part in it.
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There may have been a tournament like that, but it probably was not the official Austrian Championships. I have a list of winners published in 1933 in a German book, and based on this the Austrian Championships resumed only in 1921.

For the other years from 1919 to 1928 I only have the winners from the same German book. As you see this event was usually played concurrently or just before the French Championships.

It is disappointing that players from the defeated countries in WWI were kept out of the World Championships events in the early 1920s. It was the time when Béla Kehrling played his best tennis. He also maintained that Froitzheim played better then before the war. We can only imagine how many World Hard Court titles they could have won (Kehrling played an attacking serve-and-volley game, he might have done very well in his prime in Wimbledon as well). And these are the years when the great German pro Roman Najuch played his best tennis as well. It would be interesting to find any results between him and the leading German players. I read that such matches took place, but I have no details about them.

Central European results from the early 1920s can probably be only found in daily newspapers, as most of the tennis magazines in these countries were suspended after the war.

treblings, Yes they were Austrians. Count Salm was the Nastase of the 1920s: rather nasty...

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Bobby, i wasn´t making myself clear enough. i was talking about the entire field as mentioned in the Wiener Sportblatt.it seemed Austrian with no foreign players present.
i´m aware of Salm and his exploits, and wasn´t there a tennis playing brother?
and Rolf Kinzel is obviously a pioneer of Austrian tennis

Bobby, i wasn´t making myself clear enough. i was talking about the entire field as mentioned in the Wiener Sportblatt.it seemed Austrian with no foreign players present.
i´m aware of Salm and his exploits, and wasn´t there a tennis playing brother?
and Rolf Kinzel is obviously a pioneer of Austrian tennis

that´s quite alright
it´s fascinating to read about the austrian tournament scene in the 20´s, how many participants there were and quite some good competition it seems. many of the players seem to be forgotten nowadays, sadly

that´s quite alright
it´s fascinating to read about the austrian tournament scene in the 20´s, how many participants there were and quite some good competition it seems. many of the players seem to be forgotten nowadays, sadly

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treblings,

I think Franz Matejka was the only Austrian of European class in the 1920s and 1930s.

I think Franz Matejka was the only Austrian of European class in the 1920s and 1930s.

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i´m in no way an expert, but if someone would have asked me to name he best austrian player of that era, i would have said Matejka without having to think about it too long. how about Artens though? how would you rate him in comparison?
There was an Otto Salm playing DavisCup from 24-26, btw

i´m in no way an expert, but if someone would have asked me to name he best austrian player of that era, i would have said Matejka without having to think about it too long. how about Artens though? how would you rate him in comparison?
There was an Otto Salm playing DavisCup from 24-26, btw

I like reading about early lawn tennis too. However, it's quite frustrating trying to find early results using newspapers as they generally only report on tournaments intermittently, and often only publish the results from men's events, or don't even publish those results, but instead just give the names of the winner and runner-up.

The most reliable sources are lawn tennis or sports publications, but these are very difficult to come by.
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I like reading about early lawn tennis too. However, it's quite frustrating trying to find early results using newspapers as they generally only report on tournaments intermittently, and often only publish the results from men's events, or don't even publish those results, but instead just give the names of the winner and runner-up.

The most reliable sources are lawn tennis or sports publications, but these are very difficult to come by.
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i read an article yesterday, from 1922 i think it was, that mentioned more than 600 participants in the national championships.
i find that number amazing, having always thought, that tennis in that era was a pastime of only a few
elegos made an interesting point about tennis magazines in central europe not being published after the first world war. do you by any chance know of any pre-war magazines in german language?

The Austrian Championships were first held in 1894, when the main events were a men’s singles and a men’s doubles. The tournament was usually held in late May/early June, on clay courts. Up until 1914, it was held in Prague in Bohemia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War One, during which time the tournament was not held, the Austrian Championships were held in Vienna.

For a good number of years during the tournament’s early history, up until 1905, a Challenge Round was in force in the men’s singles event. This meant that the previous year’s holder did not have to play through, but could sit out and wait to see who won what was known as the All-Comers’ event.

The main sources for the following results are “Sport und Spiel”, “Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport”, “Lawn Tennis and Croquet” and “Lawn Tennis and Badminton”.
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<<elegos made an interesting point about tennis magazines in central europe not being published after the first world war. do you by any chance know of any pre-war magazines in german language?>>

I'm not sure whether any tennis magazines were published in Central Europe between 1919 and 1939. As for the years before 1914, the German publication "Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport" was published from about 1904 to 1908; this was followed by "Lawn-Tennis und Golf", which was published until about 1916. Newspapers and sports publications such as "Die Neue Sportwoche" and "Sport und Spiel" also covered lawn tennis regularly. Most of these are availabe in the Sporthochschule in Cologne and the German National Library in Leipzig.

There were also yearbooks in German before World War One, possibly not just covering lawn tennis in Germany. These were definitely published again in the interwar years; also in Austria and Switzerland. I thought "Lawn-Tennis und Golf" was published again after World War One, but would have to check that.

"Der Rasensport" (circa 1900-29) is probably also a good source for lawn tennis results and other related information, but it features other sports too, especially football.

<<elegos made an interesting point about tennis magazines in central europe not being published after the first world war. do you by any chance know of any pre-war magazines in german language?>>

I'm not sure whether any tennis magazines were published in Central Europe between 1919 and 1939. As for the years before 1914, the German publication "Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport" was published from about 1904 to 1908; this was followed by "Lawn-Tennis und Golf", which was published until about 1916. Newspapers and sports publications such as "Die Neue Sportwoche" and "Sport und Spiel" also covered lawn tennis regularly. Most of these are availabe in the Sporthochschule in Cologne and the German National Library in Leipzig.

There were also yearbooks in German before World War One, possibly not just covering lawn tennis in Germany. These were definitely published again in the interwar years; also in Austria and Switzerland. I thought "Lawn-Tennis und Golf" was published again after World War One, but would have to check that.

"Der Rasensport" (circa 1900-29) is probably also a good source for lawn tennis results and other related information, but it features other sports too, especially football.

thanks for all the info
i´ll post more results if and when i can find them
as far as yearbooks are concerned, i have a german Lawn-Tennis Handbuch from 1909/10 lying in front of me. found it years ago at a second-hand bookshop, but have never found the time to read it

thanks for all the info
i´ll post more results if and when i can find them
as far as yearbooks are concerned, i have a german Lawn-Tennis Handbuch from 1909/10 lying in front of me. found it years ago at a second-hand bookshop, but have never found the time to read it

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As far as I'm aware - and I've had a look at some of them - most of the German Lawn Tennis Handbooks/Annuals don't include the results even from tournament finals, just the names of the winners and runners-up. A couple of years ago I was able to go through all of "Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport" and "Lawn-Tennis und Golf" up to 1915, so got a lot of results and information from them. The period 1919-27 really needs a good look at where tennis in Central Europe is concerned.

Tennis must have been quite popular in Austria and Germany in the period before and after the First War. The Austrian poet Robert Musil wrote some lengthy excellent pieces about tennis, ditto the German writer Erich Kästner, who lived at Berlin and later was banned by the NS.
Ther also was a distinct aristocratic element in Austrian (and European) Tennis. Count Ludi Salm was quite a character.

In the book Tennis Faszination, by Paula Stuck von Resnicek, Roman Najuch gives some accounts of matches with Wilding at the Riviera. From the context it seems clear, that Najuch was already club coach, that means teaching pro, at Berlin. He was taught tennis by George Kerr, and had become teaching pro with 18. He tells about some matches with Wilding, around 1911 at Nizza, In the first match he loses 4-6-3-6. In the second match he wins a set against Wilding, losing ultimately 6-8, 6-2, 4-6.
Najuch also tells some anecdotes about Ludi Salm, was was obviously a ladies man and always on the hunt.

As far as I'm aware - and I've had a look at some of them - most of the German Lawn Tennis Handbooks/Annuals don't include the results even from tournament finals, just the names of the winners and runners-up. A couple of years ago I was able to go through all of "Der Lawn-Tennis-Sport" and "Lawn-Tennis und Golf" up to 1915, so got a lot of results and information from them. The period 1919-27 really needs a good look at where tennis in Central Europe is concerned.

Mark
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the annual that i have shows all german tournaments for 1908 and the respective winners and number of participants. sadly without results

In the book Tennis Faszination, by Paula Stuck von Resnicek, Roman Najuch gives some accounts of matches with Wilding at the Riviera. From the context it seems clear, that Najuch was already club coach, that means teaching pro, at Berlin. He was taught tennis by George Kerr, and had become teaching pro with 18. He tells about some matches with Wilding, around 1911 at Nizza, In the first match he loses 4-6-3-6. In the second match he wins a set against Wilding, losing ultimately 6-8, 6-2, 4-6.
Najuch also tells some anecdotes about Ludi Salm, was was obviously a ladies man and always on the hunt.

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thanks for mentioning that book by Resnicek, if i´m not mistaken i must have a copy somewhere
there is one report i read about Salm, that mentions he arrived at the national championships one year carrying 33 racquets. and according to the story in the newspaper, he had to cable for more

In the book Tennis Faszination, by Paula Stuck von Resnicek, Roman Najuch gives some accounts of matches with Wilding at the Riviera. From the context it seems clear, that Najuch was already club coach, that means teaching pro, at Berlin. He was taught tennis by George Kerr, and had become teaching pro with 18. He tells about some matches with Wilding, around 1911 at Nizza, In the first match he loses 4-6-3-6. In the second match he wins a set against Wilding, losing ultimately 6-8, 6-2, 4-6.

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I have also read that article in the Reznicek book. Those matches took place early in 1914, not in 1911. Unfortunately I do not know the exact dates.

In the book Tennis Faszination, by Paula Stuck von Resnicek, Roman Najuch gives some accounts of matches with Wilding at the Riviera. From the context it seems clear, that Najuch was already club coach, that means teaching pro, at Berlin. He was taught tennis by George Kerr, and had become teaching pro with 18. He tells about some matches with Wilding, around 1911 at Nizza, In the first match he loses 4-6-3-6. In the second match he wins a set against Wilding, losing ultimately 6-8, 6-2, 4-6.
Najuch also tells some anecdotes about Ludi Salm, was was obviously a ladies man and always on the hunt.[/QUOTE

urban, Thanks for these results. It's interesting that pro Najuch was able to win a set 6-2 off Wilding when Roman was not yet in his prime.

I've added a short appendix with the results from the final of the men's singles event at the Austrian Championships in the years 1931-37. In March of 1938, the Nazis marched into Austria and the "Anschluss" followed soon after. This meant that there would be no Austrian Championships tournament again until after World War Two.
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I've added a short appendix with the results from the final of the men's singles event at the Austrian Championships in the years 1931-37. In March of 1938, the Nazis marched into Austria and the "Anschluss" followed soon after. This meant that there would be no Austrian Championships tournament again until after World War Two.
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newmark, Thanks a lot for the addition 1931 to 1937. Even as an Austrian I did not know the winners and runners up...

I've added a short appendix with the results from the final of the men's singles event at the Austrian Championships in the years 1931-37. In March of 1938, the Nazis marched into Austria and the "Anschluss" followed soon after. This meant that there would be no Austrian Championships tournament again until after World War Two.
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For 1937 I have Szigeti (HUN) beating Redl 8-6 5-7 6-0 6-2 in the week ending on Jun 13. Could you double-check your result?